Is El Nino headed for California? Is your roof prepared?

arwp

The United States has experienced unprecedented weather this spring and into the summer months. Destructive storms have ripped through Texas, Oklahoma, and Mexico delivering record-breaking rainfall. San Diego County missed the wettest May in history by 0.05 inches and both Los Angeles and San Diego Counties just recorded the wettest July in more than a century. The entire Southern California region has been experiencing cooler temps and above normal precipitation this spring and summer.

Scientists infer that these may be signs that the El Nino phenomenon is gaining strength – providing hope that drought relief is coming. Can one El Nino winter bring California out of this historic drought? Yes! The record rainstorms this spring in Texas and Oklahoma ended a 4 ½ year drought, evidence that Californians should have hope.

Is your business, commercial property and/or home ready for the next El Nino? Continued drought conditions can hide the potential weaknesses in your roofing and waterproofing systems. The best thing you can do to prepare for the predicted upcoming storms is to have your roof and waterproofing systems inspected by a professional. Follow these simple steps to ensure you are ready:

Residential Roofing Tips:

Inspect the condition of your roofing system. This will ensure that any and all shingles and/or tiles are repaired as needed safeguarding that your flashings are secured. Ultimately this will prevent intrusive water that might make its way into your home causing hundreds to thousands of dollars in damages.

Commercial Roofing Tips:

Weather and natural degeneration can take a toll on your roof from the heat of the summer months. Expansion and contraction during the warmer months often results in membrane shrinkage, splitting seams, and peeling of flashes. Through industry testing and analysis, ARWP can determine the current condition of your roof and assist in the decision making process – to repair, restore or replace.

If you wait until the roof must be replaced your options are limited and the cost can be much higher. Don’t forget, southern California companies haven’t experienced heavy, consistent rains for years. If you wait until the storms hit you won’t just be replacing the roof but you’ll have to deal with the interior water damages as well. Begin your preventative practices today!

Waterproofing Tips:

Pedestrian and vehicular traffic decks can experience UV damage, expansion and contraction of the sealants resulting in loss of topcoat, shinkage, and cracks. As a result, the foundation can experience shifting and structural cracks leading to the need for costly repairs.

If you’re able to identify and repair roofing and waterproofing issues before the damage occurs, you’ll give your building or home a fighting chance against this upcoming weather phenomenon.

Based in Santa Monica, California we are excited to offer contractors of both commercial and residential properties more than 30 years of experience and full suite of services. In addition to roofing and waterproofing our services also include general construction and solar installation. In bundling these services we are is able to simplify the construction process with our years of experience and commitment to excellence.

It is not every day that a Beverly Hills home sells for $70,000,000, yes you read that correctly, seventy-million dollars! When handbag tycoon Bruce Makowsky set out to build the mega-mansion complete with eight bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, a 2,500 bottle wine room and 23,000 square feet of living space he wanted the best of everything. ARWP was brought on to work on the basement waterproofing and roofing of the high profile mansion. Collaborating with multiple contractors on a larger team we worked on the residence retaining walls, basement under slab vapor barrier, above grade waterproofing transitions and the basement car carousel. In addition to this we also executed the doors and window moisture barrier, roofing and sheet metal waterproofing integration.

Stay up to date on our newsletter to learn about new projects, in the mean time check out some more of our featured projectsto get a better idea of our work.

ARWP was selected to replace the two aging BUR Build-Up Roofing Modified Bitumen cap sheet roof systems with Versico 60 mil thick TPO Class A fire resistant roofing membrane. While in the middle of winter, our crews are aware of the changing weather and provide a watertight roof system at the end of each working day. We are on schedule to have the 45,000 square feet of roofing completed by the end of February 2015.

Owner:DSL Construction Scott Properties – Los Angeles

Project: 10480 National Blvd & 10514 National Blvd Los Angeles

History:DSL Construction Scott Properties has been a customer of Allied Roofing & Waterproofing Inc since after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Like many building owners following the destruction as a result of the magnitude 6.7 earthquake, they were in need of a good Los Angeles roofing contractor and fast. Since 1994, Allied Roofing & Waterproofing have successfully roofed over 50,000 square feet of apartment buildings for DSLConstruction Scott Properties.

ARWP, Allied Roofing & Waterproofing, Inc., was contacted by Mark Smith of Solar Forward, Inc. to provide roof preparation and solar penetration roofing at Mathis Furniture in Indio, California. The existing roof system is a Fibertite 36 mil thick thermoplastic roof membrane. ARWP is a certified applicator using their abilities and knowledge of different roofing systems to identify the most appropriate roofing product and coordinate with key individuals at Fibertite. As an approved applicator ARWP was able to extend the already in place warranty to include over 600 new roof penetrations. Upon completion the warranted Fibertite roofing system will receive a new certification from the manufacturer with the solar farm in place on the roof.

When completed the 2496 SunPower 327 Watt Solar Panels will produce 850 kilowatts with 32 SMA Tri-power inverters. It is estimated that the return on investment will be 5 years providing Mathis Furniture an additional 15 years under warranty. Interested in learning more about solar options, contact ARWP today!

ARWP’s Justin Ewart partnered with Architect David Hertz in the roof and waterproofing design and construction of a home comprised of 4.5 million parts of a Boeing 747. The 747 Wing House project is on a 55-acre property in the remote hills of Malibu, CA. Justin Ewart was contacted by Architect David Hertz for is expertise and creativity in roofing and waterproofing. Justin Ewarts final design plans incorporated using the products of two manufactures, Versico & PolyGlas. The ARWP team designed a Class A Fire Rated roofing system by installing a three-step process of PolyGlass Self-Adhesive membranes applied directly to the existing aluminum, composite, and wood substrates of the recycled wings.

We were able to achieve a Class A Fire Rating with the PolyGlass Self-Adhesive membranes without the use of fasteners or fire retardant sheet barriers. The use of fasteners for the roofing system was not an option as the fasteners would telegraph through the final layer of Versico TPO roofing membrane and be visible from the different viewpoints of the 747 Wing House. The PolyGlass Self-Adhesive membranes have a granular mineral surface, which provides a great point of adhesion substrate for the final layer of membrane, which was to be fully adhered to the PolyGlass membranes. Hertz wanted a roofing membrane to complement the original aluminum and composite substrate of the recycled wings.

The ARWP team provided Hertz with the Versico TPO (Thermoplastic Polyefin) “Grey” roofing membrane as it was the perfect product for the job. We fully adhered the roofing membrane to the PolyGlass membranes with water based VOC bonding adhesive thus eliminating the need for unsightly fasteners. We worked with Hertz to provide a suitable layout of the membrane as to replicate the metal panel simulation of the original aluminum and composite substrate of the recycled wings.

The real challenge was finishing the roofing membrane along the radial and knife-edges of the wings. In working with our sheet metal fabricator, we were able to design a TPO Clad metal as manufactured by Versico Roofing Products in which the membrane was fabricated fused to the aluminum clad metal. The metal was then custom fit to replicate the shapes of the radial and knife-edges of the wings. Our technicians then welded custom non-reinforced membrane between the metal and original installation roof areas.

The field membrane was secured with a 1″ wide aluminum termination metal beneath the custom clad metal perimeter edging thus preventing wind uplift as the 747 wing project sits at the top of a canyon above Point Mugu. The Versico TPO “Grey” membrane was not as reflective as the white membrane but did provide a Solar 747 Boeing jet. There was a reflectance of 46% after the initial installation.

In the end, the Hertz and owner Francine Rehwald were extremely pleased with the care and consideration that the 4myroof team, now Allied Roofing and Waterproofing, Inc., took into implementing and installing the first ever roof of it’s kind to the recycled wings of a 747 Boeing jet.

It is not everyday that a company is contacted by a homeowner with the request to build a net zero energy and zero carbon home. Robert Fortunato, Redondo Beach homeowner, wanted to push the limits of residential construction and create the Green Idea House case study.

Robert reached out to Justin Ewart and his team at ARWP to have them design the Green Idea House’s roofing system as well as install their solar stand-offs. Justin’s challenge was to ensure that his portion of the project met the project goals – to design a net zero energy and zero carbon home for less than standard construction costs. While at the time of construction there was a shift toward green construction practices, even a new law stating that all new residential homes must be net zero energy by 2020, but this was yet to be the accepted norm. When designing the roofing system it was important that the following objectives were achieved:

Recycle, Recycle, Recycle – 97% of the construction waste was to be kept out of landfills

Harvest Energy – The home had to harvest more energy than it used

Cost effective solutions – the designs had to cost less than standard construction costs

To achieve these goals, Justin Ewart selected a roofing system from a local manufacturing company that was less than 100 miles from the construction site. All leftover materials were recycled in a facility in Chino, CA reducing the waste that would typically end up in a landfill.

As a result of Robert’s vision, Justin’s and fellow subcontractors contributions, the Green Idea House resulted in:

97.5% of all demolition waste was recycled

Reduced the home’s energy costs by 70%

Each month the Fortunato family receives a $1,400 credit from their energy company

The solar panels power their electric car that they use for 80% of their driving

Reduced their personal soot contribution by 100%

33% reduction in water use

Justin and his entire team at ARWP were proud and honored to be part of a ground breaking project. This project defied the industry standards developing a house 15% below standard construction costs and ultimately resulted in Net Zero Energy and Zero Carbon home.